A little sweat never hurt anyone!

Here in Portland, we’ve been having some warm weather (over 90 degrees for the last four days). While it is a bit uncomfortable, there hasn’t really been a strong need for me to think about investing in an air conditioner.  I think a lot of Portlanders feel the same way.

Now we have another reason, saving the earth! EnzymePDX had a recent article about avoiding the use of an air conditioner. Plus, we only have a few days that are this hot – why not enjoy it? In January we will all be complaining about the rain and cold, so we should have some nice warm weather days to remember.

In the mean-time, try these less-expensive, earth-friendly cooling options:

• Plant trees on the south of your house – this blocks the afternoon sun, which is the hottest.
• Open your house at night and use circulating fans to pump hot air out and cool air in.
• Close your windows/doors before the hottest part of the day (black out curtains work wonderfully if your windows are old and poorly insulated – it is usually white fabric that you can pin to existing curtains if you don’t sew).
• Run fans during the day to keep air circulated (air that blows directly on you will cool you down).
• Spend the hottest hours of the day (2-8 pm) somewhere cool like a library, movie theater, grocery store, etc. Also limit physical activity during this time.
• Stay hydrated! It is critical that you drink lots of water during hot weather.
• If you have the ability, install a ground source heat pump (like my local co-op, People’s). These systems actually use the earth/ground as its heat and cooling source, since the ground stays a more stable temperature than the air. Read more about this system (also called geothermal heat pump).